NJ US Atty's Office Turmoil Doesn't Nix Conviction, Judge Rules

By Carla Baranauckas

A federal judge on Thursday rejected a New Jersey criminal defendant's attempt to dismiss his conviction and disqualify the state's top federal prosecutor, holding that the appointment of the current U.S. attorney complies with federal law and that any earlier defects in leadership do not warrant dismissal.

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NJ Justices Limit Cell Tower Data Testimony To Experts

By George Woolston

The New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously held that an expert witness is required to testify about the location of cell towers that cellphones connect to, backing a lower appeals court's reversal of a murder conviction.

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2 Sentenced In North Korean Remote IT Worker Scheme

By Julie Manganis

Two New Jersey men have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a scheme to aid North Korea in getting around U.S. and United Nations sanctions by using stolen identities to place workers in information technology jobs.

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NJ Justices To Weigh Municipal Counsel Conflict Of Interest

By Carla Baranauckas

The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to review a state ethics opinion that bars attorneys from simultaneously serving as corporation counsel to a municipality and general counsel to a regional fire and rescue agency that the municipality helps fund, setting an expedited briefing schedule.

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Del. River Regulator Says It Lawfully Extended LNG Permit

By Gautama Mehta

The Delaware River Basin Commission and the developer of a proposed liquefied natural gas export terminal asked a New Jersey federal court to toss a suit alleging the commission wrongly renewed a construction permit for a second time, saying the dispute rests on differing grammatical interpretations.

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DOL Benefits Chief Pressed On Labor Secretary's Conduct

By Kellie Mejdrich

The head of the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm faced tough questions from House Democrats at an oversight hearing Thursday, fielding questions about the labor secretary's on-the-job conduct as well as the DOL's take on mental health parity enforcement. 

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Equity Residential Cuts $56M Deal In RealPage MDL

By Katryna Perera

A Chicago-based real estate investment trust has reached a $56 million settlement in a sprawling, multidistrict antitrust class action that claims the REIT and multiple landlords used property management software company RealPage Inc.'s revenue management software for rent price-fixing.

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Analysis

AGs' Win Over Live Nation Leaves DOJ Watching From The Side

By Bryan Koenig

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.'s across-the-board trial rout by 34 state attorneys general underscores the ascendancy of state antitrust enforcers looking to fill perceived enforcement gaps left by the U.S. Department of Justice during President Donald Trump's second term.

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Higher Ed Group Seeks Fees After Beating DOE Research Cap

By Julie Manganis

An organization of public and private research universities has asked a Massachusetts federal judge to award attorney fees and costs in a successful challenge to a U.S. Department of Energy limit on reimbursements for indirect costs of grant-funded research, the third such request since last fall.

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DC Circ. Ponders If FERC Mistakenly Rejected PJM Deal

By Nadia Dreid

PJM transmission owners faced a skeptical D.C. Circuit Thursday, as aside from saying their arguments were properly preserved in an appeal of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejecting a plan they worked out with regional grid operator PJM Interconnection, they also had to defend the arguments themselves.

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NJ Judge Clears Eddie Bauer Retail Operator's Ch. 11 Plan

By Ben Zigterman

A New Jersey bankruptcy judge said Thursday she would confirm the Chapter 11 liquidation plan from a company operating Eddie Bauer retail stores, following a settlement last month between the debtor and its lenders and creditors.

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Multi-Color Wins OK For Ch. 11 Plan Cutting $3.9B In Debt

By Alex Wittenberg

A New Jersey bankruptcy judge on Thursday confirmed Multi-Color Corp.'s reorganization plan less than three months after the label-maker sought Chapter 11 protection, allowing the company to slash $3.9 billion in debt and raise $889 million in new capital.

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Series

Isshin-Ryu Karate Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My involvement in martial arts, specifically Isshin-ryu, which has principles rooted in the eight codes of karate, has been one of the most foundational in the development of my personality, and particularly my approach to challenges — including in my practice of law, says Kaitlyn Stone at Barnes & Thornburg.

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Meta, Uber Verdicts Top Product Liability Trials

By Emily Field

This year has brought major courtroom setbacks for tech platforms and app companies. Juries issued headline-making verdicts against Meta and Google over claims their platforms harm young users, while Uber lost its first federal bellwether trial over driver assaults and now faces a second sexual assault case.

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Analysis

Bondi's Contempt Defenses Are Strong, But Not Without Risk

By Phillip Bantz

Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi currently has some potentially powerful defenses against Congress' relatively limited abilities to force her to comply with a subpoena to be deposed under oath about the Epstein files, but her exposure to being held in criminal contempt could shift with the political winds, experts said.

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Calif. Lawyer Sues Over State Bar Investigations

By Andrea Keckley

A California trial lawyer claimed in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that he has been unfairly investigated by the state bar since 2019, alleging the office "illegally prioritizes revenue-generation over protection of the public."

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Judiciary Panel Loves Paralegal's Idea To Modernize Briefs

By Jeff Overley

An Arizona paralegal's unsolicited idea for overhauling a procedural rule governing the format of briefs found a surprisingly enthusiastic audience Thursday at a federal judiciary meeting, where prominent officials and attorneys voiced strong interest and agreed to explore the concept in earnest.

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Ramey Says Sanctions Violation Was 'Misunderstanding'

By Elliot Weld

William Ramey, an intellectual property attorney sanctioned in several federal jurisdictions, told a California federal judge Thursday that any violations of a previous sanctions order regarding his ability to practice law in the state were due to "good-faith misunderstanding of the scope of the court's order — not willful disregard."

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Judge Doubts Broad Shift In Immigration Hearing Access

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge appeared unconvinced Thursday by a human rights group's claim that the public is getting less access to immigration court hearings in Minnesota during the second Trump administration.

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Citizens Group Says 27 States Are Eyeing AI Chatbot Laws

By Joyce Hanson

Twenty-seven U.S. states are looking at passing laws to make artificial intelligence companies face liability claims in civil suits if they fail to protect consumers who interact with chatbots, while another three states have already enacted protections, according to a citizens group's new legislative tracker.

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Optimum Defends Antitrust Suit Against Apollo, BlackRock

By Alex Wittenberg

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other financial giants are colluding to block Optimum Communications Inc. from negotiating a debt refinancing to avert bankruptcy, acting as a "cartel" and locking Optimum out of credit markets, Optimum said in a brief opposing the investors' bid to dismiss its antitrust suit in New York.

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Sentencing Commission Votes To Enact Modest Reform Agenda

By Stewart Bishop

The U.S. Sentencing Commission on Thursday voted to enact multiple revisions to the federal sentencing guidelines, including the first inflationary adjustment in over a decade for calculating penalties for economic crimes, but declined to take action on a series of more transformational changes that were under consideration.

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